Australian Studies: Art

This book brings together, in the form of an annotated critical anthology, a selection of the writing by, and about, artists who lived and worked in Australia between 1770 and 1914.

The Encyclopedia of Australian Art is the major reference work on Australian art 1770-1994.

In this book, John McDonald shows readers the art of Australian from pre-history to the end of the colonial era.

Does Australian art have a history or is it just a series of belated footnotes to European and American artistic development in the last two centuries? Does it always express some essential "Australian sensibility"? Christopher Allen's book argues that Australian art does have a history of its own from the beginning, not because of an inherent "Australianness," but because of the objective conditions of a society transplanted to a remote and strange place. Artists brought with them current European styles, but everything acquired a subtly different meaning in this new setting, as old resources were applied to new problems. The starting point of Australian art history, as of Australian history in general, is the question of inhabiting a new continent. From the colonist trying to form an image of home in a foreign landscape to the postmodernist discovering in Australia the epitome of a homeless condition, it has rarely been absent from the most important art.

Using extensive illustrations the authors explore the myths, reality and significance of Aboriginal culture expressed through painting and sculpture.